Chapter 9
My eye was twitching in annoyance, and I'm sure the other occupants of the room could attest to that by simply reading my body language. I was also in my seat, opening and closing my hands in annoyance at the events that were sure to come very soon. I looked at the hero group in question as they had surrounded me on both sides of the table which is also present within a conference room. The room in question looked just like a meeting room where those in a business would gather and pass around ideas or any updates that concern them in any way. The table was large and circular in shape, and it was colored in a sickly gray color that makes it feel as if this very room has an air about it that shouts 'serious talk'.
For those who don't know, according to the heroes I was being 'utterly reckless' and needed to show some 'restraint' until whether or not they can determine if it's safe to use my power. Which was already a stupid idea to begin with as I'd already told them that if you don't have any knowledge of the games or their play styles, then you'd have a useless ability on your hands. I even told them as such, but they're still somewhat insistent on telling me that I was to eager to jump into a possibly dangerous situation. Either way, I'm annoyed just by hearing it over and over.
The only one who wasn't scolding me (as harshly) about it was that Assault hero. Out of everyone, he was the only one who seemed lightly amused from my 'level up' explanation if his smile at the time was anything to go by. So as of this moment, he's the cool guy in my books.
But the reason I'm in here is so that I could apparently meet the 'Director' in order to discuss such recklessness, discuss my apparent 'Tinker' power, and discuss any means if I ever think about joining.
If it wasn't enough that I simply didn't care about meeting someone else, it's the fact that I also have to be victim to more tests. And they, of course, emphasize the new order of not using my gaming powers. Not like they could stop me anyway, but I guess I'll indulge them for the time being to see where things go.
It's also been ten MINUTES since I was dragged in here to me this person, and I was stuck doing nothing but tapping a little rhythm with my hands onto my thighs. I was already impatient at this point, so no one was on my case as I now held my face up with my left hand while my right was occupied with providing the rhythm.
Another minor bout of info I discovered was in the form of my somewhat short fox tail. When I had sat down, I had felt the pain of having pressure upon it when I had absentmindedly forgotten about it. It wasn't something that I was used to having, so it was another appendage that I had to learn to live with.
So out of sheer boredom, I tried moving my tail with a sense of purpose so that I wouldn't just have it gravitating towards the ground on a regular basis. In light of this realization, I soon found that it was somewhat easier than I thought, but still a bit... distracting. Imagine how you normally control your body's movements, easy right? But now imagine that you have to actually focus into each appendage in order to do so. It's less troublesome than I'm making it seem, but it's still a minor annoyance nonetheless in terms of making good progress.
It's simply like an additional muscle that I'll have to grow into before it becomes second nature. So I stopped trying to practice this in the room and simply waited even longer to wait for this 'Director'.
After several agonizing minutes of doing nothing but that, I finally hear the door open and the now revealed lady of the hour has shown up to introduce herself to me.
As she'd walked to her seat I could make out some features about her that were prominent. For one, she's got a bob-styled haircut that was colored a bleach-blonde. She was wearing a navy blue jacket that was open instead of being buttoned up, and underneath that was a white-red striped shirt of some kind. She also wore a blue skirt that matched the same tone as her jacket had, and it reached up to her knees, plus she also wore some shoes with low-heels. Another thing about her was that she was somewhat overweight, but not apparent enough to warrant a mention.
What was worth a mention was just how serious her expression was on her face. It was as if she had been a war veteran of some kind if I can't see any amount of positive detail that showed she was at least at peace, or something.
As soon as she had sat down at the opposite end of the table which is facing me, she regarded everyone present besides me with a nod of acknowledgement before she settled her gaze onto mine. The very moment we made eye contact, I felt as if I was being judged by my dad in regards to whether or not I fucked up in some way or another. But I didn't let it show on my face, lest she gain more ground.
Her voice rung out "Now that we've all been gathered, I think it's safe to say that we can get to the main issue of this meeting. Now who here can explain to me all of what transpired in the last half-hour?" she said in tone that said 'no nonsense'. With the way she said that, all thoughts of her being similar to my dad were completely erased.
The blue and silver armored hero Armsmaster brought attention to himself by coughing into his hand.
Because you know, coughing is a gesture that says it's your turn to talk.
"In the past half-hour, Miss Hebert was present with each of us in the power testing lab in order to bring out and test her abilities. Although we started questioning her abilities first hand to see if it's within her knowledge, thus making the testing procedure accelerate it's progress." He seemed to pause before he turned in my direction, but continued nonetheless "When we asked her, she briefly stated that it had much to do with... video games, which also included her changer state. We seemed reluctant to this, and she noticed as well. It was also that she said she believed that she's in possession of a tinker ability, but her specialty's currently unknown." He turned to the empty wall for whatever reason, but didn't stop with his recollection "But it was when we were about to proceed with our own testing methods, that she had done this." He said while activating something on his armor for a moment before the room slightly dimmed.
It had made a few more noises before all of a sudden, it had shot out something equivalent to video footage that would be shown from a projector of some kind. If that wasn't already weird enough, it also began to show what happened in question by replaying it for everyone in the room. Although the only difference is that this is more than not from their perspective.
From there, it had begun from when I'd just simply waltzed into the middle of the facility, to when I disappeared from their viewpoint, to the fight and it's aftermath. Everything that had happened then was recorded and shown for everyone to see.
As soon as he'd stopped the video, he turned to everyone once more "As soon as Miss Hebert was gone from the premises and ended up in that other area, I had performed a scan and found that the area in front of us was a spacial distortion of some kind. Since it was a new development, we agreed that it shouldn't be tampered with until further notice. Oddly enough however, there was music also being played throughout the entire room as the fight went on. However, the scans also show this having no visible effect elsewhere." he paused before he added finished his assessment of the previous situation.
While the video was playing for all to see, I glanced at the corner of my eye and saw the director was gazing at it like a hawk. It was as if she was looking to find every little detail that looked, sounded, or seemed important enough to recognize and determine them on a threat scale. Everyone else's reactions hadn't changed in the slightest, as they were already aware of what had happened.
And all I could think about was how many other useful functions does that armor have.
The lights had brightened up again before I noticed the director's gaze turn to me once again to regard me. She had an unreadable expression on her face when I tried getting a read on her facial expression, so she probably has experience in masking her emotions well enough.
However it was I who chose to speak first "So I guess this is the part where I answer a crap-ton of questions, or something along those lines?" I spoke in what one would say is nonchalant tone of voice.
She didn't seem to be amused in the slightest as she gave an annoyed look as a response whilst saying "You're right. I DO have questions about the stunt you've pulled. Just like how I also have questions about your other tinker ability. But we'll be getting to that in a moment. For now however, how about you explain what THIS was?" she said to me, seemingly irritable.
I just gave a shrug in response "Like I told everyone else, I wanted to level up, so I went to fight in order to gain experience to do so." I looked to see she wasn't satisfied with my answer, so I continued "What I basically did was move to get some space so that I could engage in a fight in order to get stronger at the next moments notice. Although even I didn't expect to be brought to another plane of existence in order to do so. I was also trying to show legitimate proof that my power is in fact, centered around the functioning of a video game." I explained with a dismissive wave of my right hand.
It still doesn't matter to me whether or not they believe me, but I thought it necessary to give another reason so I don't seem completely selfish. Although it still might take a good while until I can convince them that thanks to my ability that magic is now real. To be fair though it sounds stupid even when I say it that way.
She didn't say anything for a moment until she asked another question "So you say that this 'video game' power allows you to get stronger. Can you explain how that works in detail?"
In which I simply replied "As I said to them earlier," I began while pointing to the heroes gathered around before continuing "The most you'll get out of this power is if you understand the mechanics of any game in general. Anything the game has in store, I can bring out, modify, change, and anything else I wish to do can be influenced in reality as well. There are even the most minor of things as well, but those are the more technical parts of the game." I elaborated to everyone in the room.
Most looked shocked at the possible amount of control I could implement with a thought, while others seemed only more curious about the finer aspects of my ability. I lifted my right arm to join my left in holding up my head above the table, most likely appearing bored to most who see me in this position. Honestly I just wanted to get back to messing around some more by fighting someone else, because the last one had me hyped as hell while in the midst of it. But now I'm back to more explaining and learning something new once again, it's what happens everyday after all, right?
Though, maybe I need to practice in my chakra reserves as well. After all, now I qualify enough to become a proper ninja. Maybe I should also delve into some taijutsu as well, but what style should I even use? a majority are either decent, clan based, or have some sort of requirement necessary that I'd have to spend time on. Damn, I haven't even gotten started on basic chakra control either! The jutsu I could most likely use now would probably be the basic three, but even those would still take a good amount of energy to use, especially the way I am now.
Maybe I could just plan this out, like taking one step at a time. I should focus on my overall physical ability and control before I get too deep into it. But maybe my newly gained stat points could attribute to that in some way to make this easier, like focusing into dexterity if I want to use the 'Gentle Fist' style or add vitality to that in order to master the 'Goken' style that Lee and Gai both use.
For elemental affinities, would the game let me cheat and let me master all of the elements? Or would it just leave me with whatever I was already given? Could I choose my bloodline ability? If so, could I gain multiple using gaming physics? I'm not sure if that's even po-
"-iss Hebert." said an annoyed director, apparently she was talking, but I tuned her out.
Shaking my head of my previous thoughts, I spoke up "Sorry 'bout that. What were you saying?" I asked. I've got to stop getting distracted while I'm in a conversation, otherwise I'm gonna miss some important stuff.
She took a deep breath before talking again "What I was asking was if the people you were fighting were apart of your power as well? Or could it be just a simple projection?" she questioned me for more details.
I just straightened myself before nodding in confirmation "Yeah, they're both a part of it. But they are more than just your simple summoning as I chose to fight them by my choice." I answered.
She rose an eyebrow "How so?" she asked.
I looked her in the eyes "As I said before, I wanted to grow stronger. So reasonably, I opted to choose those who're strong enough to pose enough as a problem. I also say they are 'special' because that they act of their own accord as well as working along side me should I wish it. But I simply find it easier to befriend... some of them." I say a bit cautiously at the end.
For once, one of the others spoke up, which happened to be Assault, and in which it also prompted a side glare from the director "So in a way, your somewhat like Dauntless in which you get stronger, but instead you have to work for it to get results?" he asked me.
I shook my head at that "I don't know who Dauntless is, but no. Truthfully, I don't really have to work for it at all. I could just sit where I am and just get stronger at my own pace. And as far as I'm concerned, I see no limits to it. Heck, if I wanted to, I could do the same for others as well." And it was true, it would be as easy as generating items from other various games just to raise my stats by whatever quantity. There's nothing stopping me from doing so, so I see no real reason to hide it. And I figured it will be quite a while before I establish myself in this seemingly chaotic city.
Everyone seemed to have gone silent at that, with no one making any sudden moves or gestures to show that they were still alive. I simply sat there with a confused expression on my face as I looked to see that everyone was giving only a slightly surprised look towards me. I just sat there for an uncomfortable few seconds before I chose to break the nervous tension.
"So, can anyone explain to me who this 'Dauntless is?" my voice rung throughout the room waiting for someone to respond.
It was thankfully Miss Militia who saved the day, as she was the first to break out of her stupor "Well... he's another Proctectorate member who can permanently empower objects each day. And Many believe that he'll one day reach the same level as the Triumvirate." she explained.
If anything, I was only more lost "Okay, I got what his power is, which is cool and all, and I can do something like that as well. But who or what is this 'Triumvirate'?" I asked confusedly. After I said those words, everyone started looking at me again with rapt attention. Only difference this time was that those were looks that one would give another if he/she lived under a rock for a certain amount of time.
I just sighed before looking at Miss Militia "Did you tell them ANYTHING about earlier? 'Cause I'm sick of being expected to know these things that are apparently average to everyone in your world!" I raised my voice at the end of my statement.
Everyone turned their attention to the military themed heroine, who sighed for a brief moment before she gave everyone else a glance "What Kid Win and I found out at Winslow... wasn't good information to say the least. What we've discovered was that Taylor here, is in fact... not herself." she stated vaguely.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Battery with an odd look on her face.
I just loudly sighed in response, which caught everyone's attention on me once again. Once I was sure that they were listening I began to explain the exact same turn of events up to the point where I said that the 'Real' Taylor was dead, in a sense. This of course set everyone on edge, up until Miss Militia helped me in assuring them that I am no 'Master' as they put it. And even then, I understand their skepticism of the situation, but there's nothing any of us can do to fix this huge mess.
It was times like these that I just want to curl up on the bed and just dream away everything, or look up at the night sky and just ignore everyone around me. But I'm already aware of how deep I am in these circumstances, even though I still don't like it at all. Just thinking even more complicated thoughts just make me want to quit today. But still, it was worth going through when I have a power that can essentially bring back some good childhood memories to reality, so I think I can at least make it through the rest of the day.
As soon as everyone was not glancing at me with a little tension in between, the director decided to get back to questioning me "So, in spite of all this, do you at least remember anything you could have done beforehand that could have led to this?" she asked, obviously prying for more information.
I decided to be honest "Yes actually. Before I even went to bed, I remember doing... something on my laptop about some adventure story that has to do with the powers I now have. And of course I get sent to somewhere with no knowledge of it whatsoever." I said while cupping my chin in thought. Seriously ROB, what the hell? I could have gotten killed with that kind of irresponsibility... so thanks a lot.
It's also no surprise that I even remember the 'adventure game' to begin with. I remember the details of what I'd gotten in terms of my powers, but never the initial setting for what I was being unwillingly prepared for. It's not too hard to figure out that this place is where I ended up. But the only good question is why am I HERE to begin with? I would have been fine with any other world, like the cinematic Marvel universe where I could have a bit more understanding of what's happening.
At least then I could blame it on cosmic shenanigans like the tesseract.
The director just took a deep breath for a moment before she rubbed her forehead "Okay, I guess that's all you can give us at the moment. And you say you're from another Earth as well. Is there anything to note about your Earth that we need to know? Like for say, other well known capes if that's possible?" she asked in a neutral tone with a minor amount of curiosity hidden beneath.
I just shook my head as a response "No, my planet is absolutely free of anything supernatural." I say with a good amount of confidence before I added "By the way, are we still going to be testing to see my apparent tinker ability?" I ask her in a curious tone.
She in turn, replied "Not quite. I believe we still have some more questions we would like to ask you before doing so."
I just sighed in response "Fine. Let's just get this over with."
She nodded before she continued "Good. Now first off, while your ability is powerful as well of the other things you have mentioned, is there any sort of limitation that you know of that could be of harm to you or others?" she asked neutrally.
I shrugged my shoulders and answered as I didn't see the harm in doing so "Both, actually. While I mentioned hacks and mods, those are dangerous depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. If I wanted infinite lives? I can do that. Having an infinite amount of energy? Easy. But trying to impose other things like for say, changing the WORLD'S gravity? Yeah, I'm not touching those kinds of things for the rest of my life, thank you very much."
We all sat in silence for what felt like forever until I broke the non-existent ice "So can I test out my tinker ability now?" I say with only a tad amount of impatience.
The director simply sat in silence for a moment before giving an annoyed reply "Well, that depends on what happens then. Are you going to cooperate by following our guidelines and procedures, or will you just do whatever you feel like again?" she said with a narrowed gaze which was most likely intended to intimidate, but failed to do so.
I simply shrugged "Well last time I actually knew what I was doing. But I have no clue about what kind of tech I can make unless I have something to work with. So I obviously have no other choice, less I blow something up in my own face." I joked at the end.
Instead of responding to my little joke, she opted to to turn towards Armsmaster and address him "Have her use either Kid Win's or your own workshop, I don't care which of the two. Just be sure that there are results that we can show for it," she said in a commanding tone of voice before she turned her attention to me and gave a stern look "And I don't want you causing trouble outside of what you're instructed to do. And you're not allowed to make anything until we give the okay. Are we all clear on that?" she asked (demanded) the both of us. At our nods, she seemed to have lost a bit of tension as she let out a sigh of relief "Good, now you two go on and move to one of the workshops, and the rest of you can stay close by in case of anything. Miss Militia, you stay as we have some things we need to discuss." she ordered everyone that was present in the room.
Soon, all of us, minus the weapon themed heroine, got up from our seats and proceeded to head out the door. While everyone else was headed out, I turned toward the director in question, which in turn also prompted her to raise an eyebrow.
"By the way, you never really introduced yourself. And I can't simply label you as 'the director'." I stated to her in a curious tone.
She stayed silent for a moment before she replied "Piggot. Director Emily Piggot. Now answer me this in return, what's your real name?" she asked in an almost curious manner.
I did nothing but stand in silence before speaking up again "I don't have any memory regarding my true name, but I can at least give you nickname that's close enough." I take a deep breath before I looked to meet her's and Miss Militia's gaze.
"Call me CJ. If that makes things easier enough." I say with a grin on my face.
We made it in record time, although we had to move down a floor to do so. It was just me and Armsmaster as apparently he was one of the only two tinkers this team has, and that he has more experience in such line of work. Seeing his armor makes me question what his specialty is if he made something as cool as that.
Neither of us exchanged words as we simply crossed the halls before taking a right into a VERY spacious. Not Dexter's Labratory, but hell if it's not a good use of space for your own personal workshop!
From what I could see, there were vasts amounts of what most naive idiots would call 'junk'. But if anyone had the proper knowledge and imagination, then they would already realize that these were pieces of tech that were either still under development, or already completed. The tables were a clean shining steel, proving that there was some amount of care for it. There were also monitors and keyboards on one side of the room that were showing some kind of tests as some type of alloy of some kind was under a scanner of sorts. Tools were scattered throughout the whole room as well with some being recognizable, while others weren't.
Armsmaster guided me to a specific spot, which was another table covered in parts and other tools. The parts however, they seem to... resonate with something in my head. I remember this feeling from before, but now I feel an even deeper connection and a sudden inspiration to build.
Armsmaster's voice brought me out of my musings "Have you been feeling an idea in your mind when you saw these parts?" he'd asked me.
I just nodded my head without taking my eyes away from the parts. I had no clue as to what these actually are, or even how they could be used for... well, anything. But my 'tinker' senses are getting something off of these, but it's as if I'm missing something.
I turned and looked to the only experienced tinker in the room "So what am I suppose to be making exactly?" I ask him. It wouldn't do to make some kind of super weapon without any safety regards, as I'm being supervised by only one hero.
He turned to me while he replied "Anything that can give any hints as to what you specialize in. But be sure that you refrain from anything that's remotely destructive." he informed me without a hint of emotion in the way he spoke.
With that, I turned my gaze back to the numerous amounts of parts on the table. While I knew that it resonated with me, the feeling I get doesn't necessarily give me anything of basis that I'm suppose to build. I could feel my hands slightly sweating in nervousness as I had no clue as what to do exactly.
But suddenly, I had one... crazy idea that had surfaced itself in the forefront of my mind.
'What if I'm going about this the wrong way. Maybe I'm still subconsciously trying to think like a genius?' I thought in minor realization. What I think is happening is that I'm still trying to understand what's in front of me as if I could understand it, but truthfully I won't. I realize now that what my tech knowledge in general was nil, but my tinker ability is providing steps to creations that have been brought to my mind as an idea.
'What if I just try picturing what I want, and see if it helps me from there. But what can I build that's useful and limited to what's in front of me?' I pondered with a hand on my chin.
I'm not bothering with weapons yet, as not only am I not allowed to do so for the moment, but I already had planned to do so at a later date. So the more logical route would be to switch to defensive measures instead of the usual destructive offensive measures that I'm normally so inclined to appreciate. But the question now is, what do I build that protects me and can be used without being busted. Power armor is out, as I don't feel the need to suit up in something ridiculous. I guess the only thing that I can think of is a personal shield of some kind as I still want to be mobile as well.
So in my mind, I began to picture a small portable shield that can be worn on my person or any other individual I wish. As I had done so, that inspirational feeling from before had crashed back into my head with a new found vengeance as I now knew EXACTLY what to do to make it and how to do so without fail.
With this in mind, my hands moved to grab a tool and a part as I began to get to work. My body was on autopilot as I began tampering, cutting, shaping, and fitting together pieces of a puzzle that I created. Everything came together flawlessly as if I had known how to do it all along and even then I was still growing even more images in my head as if I needed to add different functions to my personal 'fuck you' shield.
Essentially at first it was just a matter of getting started and making progress, now it's as if I'm finding a way to make it better than it already is. The primary function was to simply act as a invisible shield around the wearer's body like an extra surface. Now I find myself adding new parts with it as I now have a second, third and possibly fourth function that I now found that I could embed.
The secondary was a mode allowing the shield to reduce all opposing kinetic force/energy to zero regardless of the other laws of physics being applied.
The third function was similar to the second mode, only this time it redirects that energy back into the opposite direction from which it came. I came to refer to it as the same way a Franklin badge functions, though without the reflection of lasers or other energy based attacks.
The fourth one, involved expanding it outward, similar to the bubble shield from Halo, but I'm not too sure about the same rules being applied to this.
While these new ideas were awe-inspiring and I wanted to get to them right away, it was simply that... an idea.
For one, I'm not even done with the steps to finishing the main function, not even close. The other big problem was that the other ones either required more parts or energy outputs that these couldn't fulfill on their own without more material of any kind. And I'm assuming that I'm limited to whatever I'm using in this spot, as I'm currently borrowing a hero's equipment for my sake. In a way, it's like having your own mental error message as I couldn't proceed any further without meeting the requirements to do so.
So I find it distracting as I'm still in the process of making the damn thing, all the while I'm envisioning something better that I know I'm currently unable to do.
The more I continued to work, the more the world seemed to just disappear from my perspective, as if it were only me and technology that mattered the most at the moment. Before I knew it, my hands were also grabbing tools as if I knew them before and as if I had lots of experience with them as a whole. From my mental 'schematics' however, I was only about forty percent done with the object. That's to be expected actually as I understand the functioning that comes with it such as that it's made to fit someone of my size, smaller, or bigger if enough energy is supplied. I also find it easier as it's simply an object that I would attach to a part of my body, as I plan to have it relatively small. It'll probably be finished in about... several more minutes or so? It's a rough estimate, given that I'm not interrupted in any way imaginable, but I'll be okay as long as nobody comes just to trash it.
Either way, I've got a long way to go from here.
A/N: Yeah, this chapter was probably underwhelming, but it was more so for the sake of plot relevance than anything else. I don't think I'll push onto the topics of 'The trio', or anything else I'm missing until later. I don't feel like I've captured the characters quite yet. Granted it's still the beginning, but I still want to make sure that they still stand out as themselves. (While still trying not to be biased towards certain other characters. *Glares at Piggot and Armsmaster*)
P.S: Sorry it took a while to get this out, but you won't believe how much INCONVENIENCE I was given when I was set to get into my desired Technical School only to find on the news that they shut down PERMANENTLY. So I had to extend this slightly as I was looking around for other schools close to home.
Edit: OH! before I forget, I may consider writing some omakes in the future. But I'm not completely sure about doing so. And don't forget everyone...
I...
would...
appreciate...
a BETA! (Or other forms of criticism...)